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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Spiced and Roasted Multi-Colored Organic Carrots

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...A simple grilled chicken gave me the time I needed to play with some new side dishes I wanted to serve for dinner last night. Once the chicken was dressed and ready for the grill, I transferred it to the capable hands of the Silver Fox, and moved on to our vegetable of the evening. It was a perfect time to try the multi-color carrots that have been tempting me for a while now. The ones in the market were gnarly in comparison to the beauties I've seen in magazines, but I figured with a little trimming they'd be a perfect companion for the chicken. I wanted something a little different than the roast carrots that I usually prepare, so I added some simple spices to the olive oil I use to coat the carrots before roasting them. I used a light hand with the spices because I didn't want them to mask the flavor of the carrots I had yet to try. I'm not quite sure what I expected, but I was a bit disappointed in the carrots. I thought they'd be wildly different in flavor than their orange cousins. That didn't prove to be the case. I found them to be less sweet and more fibrous than everyday carrots. Were it not for the novelty of color, I'd have been really disappointed. I won't bother with these again. Their flavor doesn't compensate for the additional cost it takes to get them to the table. I was, however, really pleased with the recipe I used to make them and will use it in the future for roasting ordinary garden variety carrots. If you are looking for a different way to prepare carrots, I think you'll like this recipe. Without further ado, here's my version of spiced and roasted carrots.

This is beautiful! I love all of the colors and can't wait to make this for a side. The blend of spices sounds great-- I think cinnamon and cumin would be delicious with roasted carrots. Looking forward to trying this!

I purchased some of the red carrots a few years ago and found them rather tasteless and not worth the money. I'm happy to have your recipe since I've been in a vegetable roasting rut--good but need a change up! Now I'm off to check out the radish salad I see at the end of your post.

I do love your spice mixture...it sounds lovely. I've found that with different colored carrots, you have to go with tiny, baby ones...they aren't as fibrous as the larger ones....and they taste pretty much just like an orange carrot then.

I once tried multi-colored cauliflower and was kinda disappointed, too. But that won't keep me from trying carrots. If only I could find them! They certainly are pretty, though. And I love how roasting naturally sweetens the veggies.

Multicolored carrots are one of my favorite farmers' market finds. I just got purple ones the other day and it was amusing because they were so richly purple that when I boiled them to throw in a dish they turned the cooking water purple. In hindsight, I should have saved it, let it concentrate down and used it to color some homemade pasta.

I love roasted carrots, but haven't tried the multi-colored ones. Could it be that we've become used to the super sweet varieties of veggies that they've developed recently? Corn tastes positively like candy to me now, and I'm not sure I like it. I tasted an heirloom tomato the other day that had a kind of grassy twang (not sure how to put in it words!) that I liked. It's how I remember tomatoes tasting. Your carrots look beautiful, but fibrous doesn't sound too appealing. I'll have to track some down and have a taste test.

How beautiful do those look? WOW! Mary, how is it that you can take things I normally are not to fond of and make them look so amazing that I want to devour them? I love raw carrots, but cooked has never been my favorite... These would not be fed to the dog in secrecy, believe me!!

as one more interested in the flavor than the looks, thanks for the word of caution on the multicolored carrots. will stick with the regular ones but will definitely try your spice combination on them!

I can't find different colored carrots here and have never had a chance to cook with them, so it is good to know they are not that exciting, that I am not missing out on anything. They do however look lovely and I am sure your recipe will be lovely on good old orange carrots.

Yep, the carrots have great colors, but you are right about the flavor. A couple of years ago I experimented with about 7 or 8 different colors and varieties of carrots in my garden. The purple ones were beautiful, but lacked in flavor and texture. I have gone back to my tried and true varieties; all orange. That being said, I LOVE how your dish looks and I will be trying it to go with Sunday dinner.Oh and P.S.: If I am not mistaken in my past research, carrots were originally purple or yellow. Ever noticed the purpleish hew that some carrots have near their top close to where the stem attaches (especially home grown carrots)?

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